Chapter 120: Mirror Veil Technique (Part 1)

A week had passed since Yagura's lesson.

Seven days of relentless training.

Ren sat cross-legged near a small water basin in the quiet courtyard behind his home, his gaze fixed on the rippling surface. His hands were steady, fingers brushing the water with delicate precision as he molded his chakra into it.

Beside him, a shadow moved in perfect synchrony—his clone, mirroring his movements exactly.

Together, they had spent the past week refining the Small Mirror Technique, polishing every detail, pushing the limits of what was possible. At first, maintaining a stable reflection for more than a few seconds had been a struggle. The slightest imbalance in chakra control caused the mirror to distort or collapse entirely. But through constant repetition, trial, and error, Ren had begun to develop a more instinctive connection with the water.

Now, he could hold the reflection effortlessly.

But that isn't enough.

His gaze shifted to the scroll lying open beside him—the one given to him by Yagura. Unlike Yukiko and Hiroshi, Ren had no idea what kind of lesson their scrolls contained. But his own had been… unexpected.

The exercise wasn't about creating the mirror.

It was about understanding it.

Ren glanced back at his reflection in the water, then exhaled. "Alright," he murmured. "Let's try again."

His clone nodded, repositioning itself.

With a slow, deliberate movement, Ren extended his hand over the water. His fingers barely skimmed the surface as he let his chakra flow into it—not to create a reflection, but to alter it.

At first, nothing happened. The water remained perfectly still, reflecting his own image with flawless clarity.

Then, slowly, his face shifted.

His hair lengthened. His eyes became narrower, the shape of his nose slightly different, his expression subtly unfamiliar. The features in the reflection were no longer his own.

Ren clenched his teeth, forcing himself to hold the image steady. The technique required absolute control—one wrong fluctuation, and the illusion would break apart.

His clone watched carefully, analyzing every micro-adjustment.

The Mirror Veil Technique.

It wasn't a full-fledged jutsu, not yet. Rather, it was a precursor, a fundamental step toward mastering the Small Mirror Technique.

Before he could manipulate a reflection completely—before he could distort it into an independent clone, like Yagura had done—he first needed to understand how reflections functioned.

Yagura's lesson was clear.

"A mirror does not simply show what is there—it can also show what is not."

This exercise was meant to deepen his familiarity with the way chakra interacted with water, how even the smallest pulse could alter its surface. If he couldn't control these distortions, if he couldn't command the reflection itself, then he would never be able to create a perfect mirroring clone.

Ren exhaled slowly, his chakra weaving into the water.

The reflection held for three seconds—then the water trembled, and his face snapped back to normal.

His clone, sitting across from him, gave him an unimpressed look.

"Three seconds," it muttered. "That's weak."

Ren rolled his eyes. "Thanks for the encouragement," he shot back dryly.

"Just stating facts," the clone shrugged. "You're overloading the chakra input. The moment your control wavers, the water collapses."

Ren considered that. "So, too much chakra distorts the image… but too little won't be enough to shape it."

Then you find the balance.

Ren smirked slightly. "Sounds like a lot of work."

His clone smirked back. "Which means we should get started."

Ren sighed, but inside, he felt a familiar determination rising.

This was only the first step.

Once he mastered the Mirror Veil, the true Small Mirror Technique would finally be within reach.

And he would master it.

It was just a matter of time.

Ren exhaled heavily, his arms resting on his knees as he fought to steady his breath. His vision swayed for a moment, a dull ache spreading through his body.

I've reached my limit…

The realization annoyed him more than he cared to admit. His chakra reserves were completely drained—every ounce of energy poured into refining the Mirror Veil Technique.

He had been so focused on pushing the exercise further, stretching the illusion's duration second by second, that he hadn't realized how depleted he had become.

His clone had already dispersed the moment his chakra had bottomed out, leaving him alone with the cool afternoon breeze and the open scroll beside him.

Ren wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead, staring at the reflection in the water. It was just his face again—unshifting, unaltered.

How am I supposed to get to Tatsumi like this?

[Hi Everyone, Ito-kuna here, in the next few hours i'll update with the second part of the chapter, i didn't have time today, but later i'll complete it]

 Sincerely Thanks and remember about the Power Stones, these are the motivation for my work :) ]